An overview of the Indian consulting industry.
Consulting as a service came about as far back as the late 19th century when the world’s first modern consultancy firms were founded because the industry had started to move away from simple trading and traditional products to things that called for specialized knowledge in setting up, maintenance and growth.
From the turn of the 20th century, consulting and in particular, those with a focus on engineering and finance found increasing acceptance in the world of business and enterprise. Today, a century down the line, the consulting industry is one of the most mature in the professional services industry that generates revenues anywhere close to USD 250 billion YOY.
There though is a caveat in the present. The pandemic-induced state of the industry has seen the worst percolate down to its essential parts including consulting. Had the pandemic not put the dampener, things could have very, very different. That said, this part of the industry is sure to look sunny worldwide once the fear of the pandemic recedes though the same may take time.
Mirroring the global consulting industry is the one in India that too has seen substantial growth (and slumps), not only in terms of size but also in terms of the service offerings. In recent years, the demand for specialist consulting services is being sought in a big way in India. This presents a never-before opportunity for a large number of consultants to help businesses with their expert knowledge base and resources. This is despite the pandemic-induced slowdown.
Of special interest today are start-ups and MSMEs that despite the pandemic are looking for ways to scale up their operations and approach an increasing number of customers both within and outside the country. All this had fuelled an industry-estimated growth of CAGR 30% that till 2020 was to be in the range of INR 27000 crores as per an ASSOCHAM report.
Whether or not the same came about could be called to question due to the obvious slowdown. On a global level, the current slowdown may have brought losses of up to 20% in market value than in absolute terms may mean losses of USD 30 billion.
Losses, be in industry or in consultancy though are not uniform and the same mirrors in India as well. For instance, tourism and allied industry are very likely to dispense with management consultants in large numbers due to the prevailing downturn whereas the medical fraternity in all its forms, divisions, and departments could see a marked and substantial increase in their drive to recruit consultants.
The other sunrise industry for consultants could be the Fintech and Edutech where things going online wholesale, there’s an obvious dearth of both subject-matter experts and experts in the field of communication, connectivity, and customer experience.
In the normal order, management consultancy includes within its ambit the following:
- Management consulting with its ambit of improving organizational structures, planning strategies, and marketing.
- Operational & technology consulting that looks into improving operational efficiency and keeping up with technology.
- Financial consulting that deals with utilizing capital effectively throughout the entire value chain, cash management, and organic expansion of an entity.
Consultancy firms on their part offer solutions and services to a broad spectrum of industries in the following ways:
- Discovering newer opportunities to grow including the discovery of newer products and services.
- Diagnosing issues and challenges faced by organizations as a whole or in its parts.
- Improving the performance of the organization as a whole or of all or any of its parts.
In the Indian scenario, facts, figures, and salient points include:
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